Friday, August 13, 2010

225. Life and death


Dancing from log to log, the blue damsel-fly glinted in the morning light. She hovered in mid air, wings a quiver then, hearing the guttural croak of a frog in the reeds, flew out over the centre of the pond. The frog plopped from a barely submerged rock, into the muddy waters. Concentric waves swept to the water’s edge.

An emerald green blow fly buzzed up from the muddy squelch, then descended once more onto the steadily decaying carcass of a bush rat, proboscis probing searchingly. Distended maggots oozed from the filth. The soil beneath swayed with the undulations of a mass of earth worms flourishing on the fetid matter. A short gust of wind kicked up the water, buffeting the reeds, causing the fly mass to rise as one black swarm chanting their deathly pleasure. A cockroach scuttled. A St Andrew’s Cross waited.

In death, the pond was alive.

3 comments:

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

a very vivid picture of nature is pictured here Julie in your words. Funny enough I was in St Andrews today on the Fife coast.

You asked about the area I photographed being a "posh" area. Yes it is and some of the houses are incredible looking mansions.

Just further up stream from those mansions is the Palace where the ancient Lings and Queens of Scotland were crowned. I've just written 2 posts on the palace and the famous Stone of Destiny on my nature blog.

:) Rosie
Have a lovely weekend and thanks for your comment on my photoblog

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

oops it should be Kings and not lings on my last comment

Joan Elizabeth said...

This is a departure from your normal stories into nature writing ... I like it a lot.